The Liberian Government through the Ministry of Health has confirmed the death of five persons suspected to have contracted the deadly Ebola hemorrhagic fever in Lofa County.

Making the disclosure at a special press briefing at the Ministry of Information on Monday, Liberia's Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Bernice Dahn, said all of the five suspected cases were people who came from Guinea for treatment at hospitals in Foya and Zorzor Districts in Lofa County.

According to the Liberia News Agency (LINA), Dr. Dahn said four of the dead are female adults, while the fifth casualty was a male child.

Meanwhile, the Liberia's Chief Medical Officer stated that the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and its partners have dispatched an assessment team to Lofa County, to investigate the situation by tracing contacts, collecting blood samples and sensitizing local health authorities about the disease.

She said the assessment team also took with them protective equipment such as face masks, gloves and goggles to protect health workers in affected facilities.

She told the press conference that the team also took with them chlorine to disinfect the affected hospitals, as surveillance along the border is being strengthened.

The current outbreak of the deadly hemorrhagic Ebola Disease, according to Dr. Dahn, said the disease started in the Guinean towns of Guekedou, Nzerekore, Kissidougou and Macenta which are very close to the Liberian border.

The Chief Medical Officer then called on Liberians to avoid direct contact with body fluids of infected or dead people as well as physical contacts such as kissing and handshakes.

She also advised Liberians in the affected areas to wash their hands frequently, avoid direct contacts or consumption of animals such as fruit bats and monkeys, and to always chlorinate their drinking water in order to prevent this deadly disease.

I wish we could get such reports directly from the Liberian Ministry of Health, but it doesn't seem to have a website. The closest site is the Liberian Ministry of Information, which has nothing about Ebola—just routine government bumf.

This seems to be a recurring problem in poor countries: No matter how much aid they get and investment they attract, none of it goes into reasonably adequate online communications.

You would think that WHO and many NGOs would make that a condition of aid: public health must not only be done, it must be seen to be done.

The Liberian Government through the Ministry of Health has confirmed the death of five persons suspected to have contracted the deadly Ebola hemorrhagic fever in Lofa County.

Making the disclosure at a special press briefing at the Ministry of Information on Monday, Liberia's Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Bernice Dahn, said all of the five suspected cases were people who came from Guinea for treatment at hospitals in Foya and Zorzor Districts in Lofa County.

According to the Liberia News Agency (LINA), Dr. Dahn said four of the dead are female adults, while the fifth casualty was a male child.

Meanwhile, the Liberia's Chief Medical Officer stated that the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and its partners have dispatched an assessment team to Lofa County, to investigate the situation by tracing contacts, collecting blood samples and sensitizing local health authorities about the disease.

She said the assessment team also took with them protective equipment such as face masks, gloves and goggles to protect health workers in affected facilities.

She told the press conference that the team also took with them chlorine to disinfect the affected hospitals, as surveillance along the border is being strengthened.

The current outbreak of the deadly hemorrhagic Ebola Disease, according to Dr. Dahn, said the disease started in the Guinean towns of Guekedou, Nzerekore, Kissidougou and Macenta which are very close to the Liberian border.

The Chief Medical Officer then called on Liberians to avoid direct contact with body fluids of infected or dead people as well as physical contacts such as kissing and handshakes.

She also advised Liberians in the affected areas to wash their hands frequently, avoid direct contacts or consumption of animals such as fruit bats and monkeys, and to always chlorinate their drinking water in order to prevent this deadly disease.

I wish we could get such reports directly from the Liberian Ministry of Health, but it doesn't seem to have a website. The closest site is the Liberian Ministry of Information, which has nothing about Ebola—just routine government bumf.

This seems to be a recurring problem in poor countries: No matter how much aid they get and investment they attract, none of it goes into reasonably adequate online communications.

You would think that WHO and many NGOs would make that a condition of aid: public health must not only be done, it must be seen to be done.